Napa earthquake: Aftershocks rattle North Bay, damages highways

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Structural engineers Andy Thompson and Ibbi Almufti do a general assessment of the Vintner’s Collective building, Monday morning Aug. 25, 2014, one day after the South Napa earthquake struck the Bay Area. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

NAPA — Four aftershocks of Sunday’s magnitude-6.0 quake rattled the North Bay early Tuesday morning, including a 3.9 shaker that further damaged Highways 29 and 37, while crews continued to repair water mains and inspect buildings for damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded at least four aftershocks in roughly one hour, starting with the 3.9 rumbler at 5:33 a.m., within 6 miles of American Canyon.

The initial shaker Tuesday morning was followed by a 2.7 quake at 5:35 a.m., then a 2.8 at 6:12 a.m. and a 3.0 at 6:45 a.m

Tuesday’s quakes were among 80 aftershocks, including four stronger than 3.0, since the Sunday morning temblor, said Brad Aagaard, a geophysicist with U.S. Geological Survey.

The California Highway Patrol shut down one lane of southbound Highway 29 for emergency repairs. It was not expected to open until at least 6 p.m., said CHP Officer Ron Simmons.

The damage was near the approach to the George Butler Bridge, said CHP spokesman Officer Daniel Hill, but the bridge was not affected. However, the crack in the road was extremely noticeable after the morning aftershocks.

“It got so bad people were calling in comparing it to a speed bump,” Hill said.

Motorists were being asked to use State Route 121 to State Route 221 as an alternate route.

The initial quake on Sunday had damaged part of Highway 29, but Tuesday’s aftershock created an even larger divot in the roadway, CHP Officer Kevin Bartlett said.

About 1 p.m., the CHP closed one lane of westbound State Route 37 for emergency repairs due to uneven roadway reported from Sunday’s rumbling. The lane was reopened around 3:30 p.m.

Crews were continuing cleanup efforts in the city of Napa and other communities on Tuesday.

Ten crews are working round-the-clock to repair 120 water line breaks that have left hundreds without water since the quake, officials said. Napa City Manager Mike Parness said that once water is restored to a home tap, residents should either use bottled water, boil tap water or get water from a city filling station on Pearl Avenue or the Las Flores Center on Linda Vista Avenue until the water is “certified.” Anyone with questions can call 707-257-9544.

According to PG&E, the utility company restored gas and electricity to 70,000 customers who lost power after Sunday’s quake. City officials said the utility company continues to conduct gas safety surveys in the impacted areas. The checks will continue throughout the next several days.

The utility company lowered the operating pressure of its Sonoma/Napa transmission pipeline system and conducted two patrols of the transmission system to ensure its integrity, city officials reported.

Customers who smell gas or are experiencing another electric or gas service emergency are asked to call 1-800-743-5002 immediately.

Inspectors in Napa have thus far red-tagged 103 buildings and yellow-tagged 500 more, a mix of commercial and residential. Buildings with red tags are not safe to enter. Houses with yellow tags may be entered briefly but are not inhabitable. City officials are also working to get fencing to cordon off red-tagged buildings downtown so all streets at the city’s core can be reopened. Still, there is a backlog of more than 800 requests for building inspections for earthquake damages, city officials report.

As of Tuesday, building inspectors had evaluated all of the structures and the crew of 60 was expected to make a pass by at least some of the buildings a second time

All city bridges have been inspected and the new Coombs Street pedestrian bridge has a damaged anchorage among other unspecified damage, and has been closed for repairs as a precaution. All other bridges are safe and remain in use. Meanwhile, the Red Cross evacuation center at the Crosswalk Community Church on First Street remains open. City officials said eight people spent Sunday night in the shelter and that 18 used the shelter on Monday night.

The most seriously injured of the 209 patients taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napaafter Sunday’s quake was in serious condition Tuesday. The nature of that person’s injuries were not released Tuesday.

Nicholas Dillon, 13, of Napawas also seriously injured when he hit with bricks from a falling chimney and suffered multiple broken bones in his pelvis that required surgery after he was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center.

From his hospital bed at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, 13-year-old Nicholas Dillon said he is fortunate to be alive after a pile of bricks from a collapsed chimney crushed his pelvis at his Napa home during a sleepover with a friend, ABC-7 television reported.

The teen’s best friend, Imnol Villanueva, says the two were doing math homework in Nicholas’ living Saturday night and fell asleep. Imnol was on the couch and Nicholas was on the floor next to the fireplace, the station reported.

Nicholas said that after he was jolted awake by the quake, he checked on his friend and then tried to get out of the house.

“I started crawling to get to the door and just as I was going to get to the door, the chimney collapsed on my back,” he said, according to ABC-7. “And I stumbled a little forward on the floor. And I was laying there during the earthquake. I was screaming my mom’s name. She fell twice trying to get to me. I was on the floor for maybe 30 minutes to an hour. The firemen came. Then the paramedics showed up afterwards.”

Dillon had nine hours of surgery to repair a crushed pelvis.

Schools within the Napa Valley Unified School District remained closed Tuesday although staff and administrators reported to work. School administrators said that classes would resume on Wednesday.

The district’s child care program also remained closed Tuesday, but free child care was being offered at the local Boys and Girls Club and at Napa Parks and Recreation.

In Vallejo, officials did not immediately report any additional damage caused by Tuesday’s aftershocks. According to the city’s website, 10 buildings have been red-tagged, including a U.S. Post Office located at 485 Santa Clara Street. Thirty-four buildings were yellow-tagged. On Monday, brick by brick, crews began dismantling the iconic bell tower of the First Baptist Church after building inspectors found the structure to be in danger of collapsing near the corner of Sonoma Boulevard and Carolina Street — a busy intersection adjacent to Lincoln Elementary School.Water in Valljeo has been totally restored to all residents, and crews were still working to fix a total of 21 water main breaks left in the wake of Sunday’s quake.

Forty-nine Vallejo residents suffered some form of minor injury in Sunday’s quake with two admitted to hospitals.

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